Structured Settlement

As a society, it would seem logical that we would want drug pushing, loan sharking and corporate influence peddling to stop. At the very least, we could go back to making it against the law.

Three years after US taxpayers bailed Bank of America out by giving them part of the $700 billion bailout, they repaid Congress by slapping their customers in the face with a $5 a month fee for using a debit card. Bank of America may have sparked its "Netflix movement."

Because the money is harder to access, people who take structured settlements are more likely to "get rich slowly" than my professional clients who can cash in a mutual fund or stock whenever they want.

Why give your family a lump sum and have them blow it? Most insurance policies have options to pay out over time, but few people use them. It limits them to the terms of the insurance company. Thus, I came up with a simple system.

Over 4 million people moved their money from Wall Street Banks in 2010, according to Sara Ackerman, project coordinator for Move Your Money. I bought...

You would think that after having overcome trillion-to-one odds, the idea of running through the money would seem silly to most lottery winners. But 90 percent of people do just that within five years of winning the jackpot.

Most of us want to be physically fit, but very few of us are. The same holds true with financial security. As my father (and many others) used to say, "A lot of people want to go to heaven but no one wants to die to get there."

The phrase "double-dip recession" means little to most of us. To people on Main Street, it hasn't been been a "dip". We took a drop to the bottom two years ago and stayed there.

My solution to gambling addiction would be same one that seems to be helping keep track of sexual predators: A national registry. If widely shared, such a list could prevent addicts from any legalized gambling.

I've found that people leaving old line companies, even with a severance package, were more bitter than those where companies treated employees like interchangeable parts.

People looking to solve financial problems are also looking for empathy. Instead, the message they often receive from books about money is "I'm OK and you're an idiot."

Almost all of us have our own "lotto moment." We make decisions about money that will either give us long term security and happiness or bring on pain and regret.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mcnayonthemoney#p/a/u/0/t-nYOCaF2cM Here's a video of my comments on the death of Florida Lotto winner Abraham Shakespe...

Why people should not give money to their adult children.

My late mother used shopping as a hobby. If she were still alive, I wonder if she would be looking for something else to occupy her time. It seems many Americans are.

I'm convinced that most of the mistakes made handling money result from lack of information and bad habits formed in childhood.

After having overcome trillion-to-one odds, the idea of running through the money would seem silly to most winners. However, studies shows that 90% of people blow all their money within five years of winning the jackpot.

America ships soldiers off to Afghanistan and Iraq for free. If you come back in a body bag, they ship that back for free, too. However, we make families who send soldiers socks, food and underwear pay shipping costs.

I've watched many people get in trouble with upside down car loans, second mortgages or high interest rate financing. Credit keeps many people from living within their means. Then a friend told me he was buying a large house.

Everyone has dreams and desires but usually keep them hidden, back in the recesses of their minds. The lottery question gets those dreams and desires out in the open, on the front burner.

When three people who know about money go to the extreme of not owning any credit cards, others might want to take note.